A long and windy road
by Obsessed with Cas
Summary: Zoe and Max's journey. Their life surrounded by the people they love and care about. Will they ever get married?
1. Chapter 1

As the ambulance doors swung open and Dixie jumped out of the back, Connie and Tess crowded round to help get the patient out and inside. Lofty jumped down before helping Dixie get the trolley out, 'Max!' he'd spotted him by the ED entrance, smoking his cigarette, carefree.

Max looked up and smiled, 'alright pal?' it wasn't a question - more of a greeting.

Dixie started, 'right folks, this is Zoe Hanna, 40 years old. She's tripped and fallen down about 8 stairs, she's 28 weeks pregnant.'

As soon as she'd said the name, he'd started to panic, his ears sealed themselves shut and he couldn't hear anything anyone was saying. Max knew, he knew it was something terrible - Zoe wouldn't have alllowed herself to be in an ambulance if it wasn't serious. She hates being a patient - being looked after by her colleagues, her friends. 'Z...Zoe!' he stuttered, he panicked. 'I'm right here!' he shouted as he ran through the department doors and through to resus, barging past god knows how many people, knocking files out of Cal's and Lily's hands.

'What's the rush?' she'd yelled after him, sighing, picking her files up quickly.

He hadn't heard her, he didn't care. 'Zoe!' he repeated her name. 'Why isn't she answering me?! What's going on?!' he grabbed hold of her hand and looked around the room, 'she will be okay, won't she? The baby! Is the baby okay?!'

Ignoring him, Connie shouted demands to the nurses around the bed, asking for bloods, scans, someone from maternity. She checked Zoe's pupils and hooked her up to monitors and fluids.

'She'll be fine, mate.' Lofty said calmly, as he rubs his friends shoulder supportively.

'You were with her? What were you doing?'

'She came round to drop off those shoes to Robyn' he nodded, smiled.

He couldn't stand it. No one was telling him what was going on, his fiance was lay in a hospital bed, in pain? Maybe? He didn't know, her eyes were closed, her arm in a twisted position. Before he knew what he was doing, Max had punched his friend. His arm swung back once more and he aimed, again, for the poor mans nose. As Cal pulled Lofty out of the way of Max's second attack, Dylan caught hold of his hand, held his arms back and tried, with all his might to keep Max away from his pal.

'You should have been looking after her!' he yelled, as Lofty was taken, by Cal, out of resus, to sort his bloody nose. 'You should have helped her!' he'd fought his way out of Dylan's hold and was staring at his lover, who lay helpless.

* * *

'Zoe, if you don't start pushing, you're going to need a C-section' he nodded, 'baby is becoming stressed, we need to get baby out as soon as possible, sweetheart.'

'It's too soon' she cried, begged.

'Babe...' Max held her hand in his. 'You need to listen to Mr Thompson. I'm here, okay? We'll do it together. We'll get to see our little baby soon' whispering 'I love you's' into her hair, he kissed her forehead gently and nodded. 'Not long and we'll have our baby, I promise.'

She nodded slowly. She knew it was too soon. Max knew it was too soon. But he had faith in her, that's all that mattered now, he knew she could do it and she needed to prove him right. Come on Zoe! she chanted silently along with him. I can do this! She pushed and pushed, harder and harder. She screamed and groaned, gripped Max's hand and pushed some more.

With help from Mr T, baby was born, half an hour later. Twelve weeks premature. A girl. Their baby girl. As they cried together, kissing each other tenderly, Max congratulating her over and over, a realisation suddenly dawned on her. She wasn't crying. 'She isn't crying' she shouted. 'My baby! Do something!'

'Zoe' Tess rubbed her arm gently and moved her hair behind her ear. 'Mr T is the best there is. You know that. She's in safe hands.' She nodded and looked over then back to the not-so-happy parents. 'Congratulations' she whispered.

A cry. A tiny cry. Followed by a sigh of relief - from the medics. Then a gasp - from mum and dad. And Mr T finally spoke, he walked over to the pair with their daughter in his arms. 'Hello mummy. Hello daddy' he'd put on his baby voice and smiled at them. 'She's going up to the unit now, you can come up and see her once you're finished down here.' And with that, he was gone. He'd taken their daughter away - rushed her up to the ward.

 **Hope you like this. If you have the chance, please R &R, let me know what you think of the first chapter :)**

 **Gemma x**


	2. Chapter 2

Zoe had given birth forty five minutes ago. She was sat on the bed, staring at the door, waiting for Max to walk through it with a wheelchair. They were going to see their daughter, for the first time, together.

Ignoring everyone's awkward questions, concerning looks, supportive smiles, he walked, purposefully towards resus, eyes focused on the floor, mind focused on walking. One foot, then the other, and the other. He'd made it. Max looked up as he opened the door, smiled slightly at Zoe and stopped the chair in front of her. 'Okay?' He helped her, carefully, into the chair and kissed the top of her head softly.

She shrugged, sat back and let Max wheel her out. She didn't know how she felt, numb...empty...

As they got closer to neonatal, she'd noticed the pace slowing down. She reached up slowly and rested her hand over Max's lightly. He hooked his thumb over her hand and ran it across her skin gently. He turned and walked through the doors backwards and pulled Zoe through them slowly. She looked around the room quickly and saw the incubator in the middle. Gasping, Zoe pulled her hand down out of Max's hold and slapped it across her mouth. He stopped the chair beside the tiny baby and stood beside her, his arm around her shoulder's, rubbing her arm. 'She'll be okay' he whispered, 'she'll be a strong little girl, like her mum.'

Zoe stood herself up and held her hand on the side of the glass box. Trying her hardest not to cry, she stared at the tiny girl. 'She should still be inside me' her voice cracked. 'She shouldn't...shouldn't be there! She should be in me!' She sobbed, allowing Max to pull her into a tight embrace, holding her close to his chest.

Holding one hand on her back, and one on the back of her head, Max bit his lip and watched their tiny child's chest rise and fall slowly. She was breathing, he thought. Then he thought, maybe she's not...maybe it's that machine. Or that one...or the other. He had no idea. Zoe does though, he thought, Zoe knows what it's all there for. She knows whats happening to their baby, and that thought scared him. As soon as..if..anything went wrong, Zoe would know what was going on, she'd know what the doctors were doing, he wouldn't have a clue. He'd be panicking, clueless. She'd be panicking, knowing their daughter was...he couldn't think like that. He wouldn't allow himself to.

'I'm sorry' she whispered against his chest, 'I'm so sorry Max...'

'Hey...you have nothing to be sorry for. Nothing at all Zoe.' Shaking his head he wiped under her eyes gently, 'never apologise Zo. Never.'

She looked back at the baby and sighed, running her finger, along the glass, over her tiny outline, 'it's not supposed to be like this. We're supposed to have months...' she paused, 'months until...until.' She blinked, trying to steady herself, she dug her forehead into Max's chest and took a deep breath.

'Babe?...Zoe? What's wrong?' Max tilted her chin up gently, noticed her eyes were closed. 'It's too soon, isn't it' he mumbled to himself as he sat her down slowly into the wheelchair. She looked so peaceful. He covered her with the blanket and tucked it in either side of her legs. As he placed his hand on the incubator top, he noticed the blood, covering his fingers. 'How on earth have you managed that' he thought to himself. Looking all over his hand, he couldn't find the source of the bleed. 'Weird.' he said aloud. Then, 'shit! Zoe!'

He pulled the blanket back quickly and dropped it to the floor. 'Zoe!' Sure enough, her gown was covered in blood. He lifted her up into his arms and ran. He didn't know his way around this unit, but he knew his way around the hospital. He ran through his tears, through doors, down stairs, through corridors. All the time begging her to wake up, praying.

He finally made it to the ED. 'Help!' he yelled. 'Somebody help!' he was crying now, his face tear stained, his arms and legs numb. He dropped the woman he loved onto the trolley gently and screamed at his colleagues to 'hurry the f*ck up!'

They pushed the trolley away into resus and Max fell to his knees, crying into his hands. His daughter...and now his fiance, none of them he could help. What was he supposed to do? What could he do? He wasn't trained. There was no guidebook. He just had to sit tight and wait.

'Hey..' Robyn knelt beside him. 'Come on' she said calmly, 'lets go get a cup of tea' she wrapped her arms around him and helped him up slowly. 'I'll even slip in some biscuits' she teased. Good. A smile. That was all she wanted. She led him away, sat him on the chair in Rita's office and handed him his tea.


	3. Chapter 3

Connie entered the room, Max stared at her, desperate for some good news. 'She's gone up to theatre, we can't stop the bleed ourselves, the surgeons will do everything they can for her,' she smiled, sympathetically.

'Ev...everything th..they can...' he stuttered, 'wh...what does that...what does that even mean?!' Max started pacing the short length of the office, 'what does it mean!' he demanded, 'she can't die!'

Connie took a deep breath, 'she's in the best possible hands Max. You should be with your daughter, someone will come get you when she's out of theatre.'

And with that, she left.

Robyn had never seen her step-brother so broken, so confused, angry, hurt. She didn't know what to do to comfort him, she'd never been in this situation before. With patients, she could cope - chances are, she wouldn't see them again anyway. But this was Max. She needed to be there for him as best she could, tea and biscuits was not enough.

'She doesn't have a name yet...'

'Why don't you have a think, and then when Zoe comes round, you can tell her you choices,' Robyn rubbed Max's back as she spoke. 'I think she'd like that, don't you?'

He nodded slowly and after a while, he spoke, 'I can't think of any...I just keep thinking about Zoe..'

'She'll be alright. She's a fighter, isn't she. I'm sure she'll be fine Max.'

He nodded slowly, thinking out loud, 'what if she's not? How am I supposed to cope with a baby on my own, I'm still a kid myself, that's what Zoe always says. I won't manage with a baby, not without Zoe.'

Robyn sighed, 'even if something does happen, and Zoe doesn't make it...it is a very very big if Max' she nodded, 'I'm here for you, so is Lofty, Charlie, everyone will help and support you Max, no matter what happens.'

* * *

Five hours later, Lofty came to check on Max. He was fast asleep in the chair beside his daughters incubator. Lofty gently shook his shoulders, which startled poor Max and he woke up, instantly, standing up.

'Hey' Lofty smiled softly. 'She's out of theatre, everything's fine.'

'She's okay' Max let out a long breath, 'she's okay. Thanks mate.'

And with that, Max made his way down to the ED to check on his Mrs. He rubbed his thumb over her hand gently as she woke, 'hey you' he whispered as he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, 'you gave me a fright Zoe.'

'I'm sorry' she whispered, quietly, 'where is she? Is she okay?'

'She's okay baby, I'll take you up to see her soon' nodded Max. 'She's the most beautiful little girl, takes after her mummy' he winked and held his phone in front of Zoe, showing her a picture of their little girl.

'She's so small, so...fragile.'

He nodded, and kissed Zoe's hand. Max gently moved the hair from her face behind her ear and stroked her cheek softly, 'she's perfect.'

A few hours later, Zoe and Max sat quietly beside their daughters incubator, Max's arm around Zoe's shoulder, her head resting gently against his chest. They stared, lovingly at her through the glass, both desperate to hold and cuddle their little girl.

'I've been thinking...' started Max.

Zoe closed her eyes slowly, fearing the worst - that he wanted to end their relationship already. He continued, 'I like the names Lexi, Olivia, Grace and Sophia. Robyn told me to think of some while you were...in theatre.'

She let out her breath and smiled, 'such lovely names. How about Lexi Grace Walker.'

Max grinned and rubbed Zoe's cheek, 'perfect.'

Charlie came up to the ward after his shift to check how mum and baby were doing. 'Oh isn't she just the cutest little thing' he said smiling as he rubbed Zoe's back. 'Congratulations!'

'Thanks Charlie' she smiled as he did. 'I never thought I'd be a mum. Not after everything with Nick.'

'I know' he nodded and sat beside her, 'but you are and I bet you'll be a fantastic one, won't you'

She smiled shyly and watched her daughter. 'I hope so. I know I'll do everything I can to protect her, that's for sure.'

'Well then, you're already halfway there. I'm going to bring Tess in to see you soon, if that's okay with you.'

'Yes. Yes, of course it is. I haven't told her she's here yet. Thank you Charlie.'

Max walked in at that moment, 'right mummy' he said with his cheeky grin and a wink, 'daddy's brought you a nice hot chocolate.'

She laughed, 'thank you.'

Charlie smiled and made his excuses then left and the pair were left, alone at last, with their daughter.

 **Hope you like this chapter. Uni has been mad lately, not had time to finish this for ages. R &R if you have time to x**


	4. Chapter 4

**Short chapter, but it's kinda fluffy :)**

Seven weeks later, as they sat watching their baby girl, stroking her cheek gently, the doctor came to speak to them. 'Oh please can we hold her today?' begged Zoe.

He chuckled, 'actually, that's what I was coming to talk to you about. She's responding brilliantly to the meds, she's breathing for herself now too. I'd say she's ready.'

Grinning, Zoe rose to her feet, keeping hold of Max's hand, 'we can hold her baby. We can hold her!'

Max rubbed her back and smiled, 'on you go then, it's only fair you go first.'

Zoe sat down as the doctor placed her daughter in her arms for the first time. She grinned at her little girl, 'hello Lexi. I'm your mummy' she whispered and repeated 'I love you's' while rocking her gently. Max slowly wrapped his arm around Zoe and rubbed the baby's chest with his free hand. Zoe couldn't stop the smile spreading across her face, 'this is daddy...he's the funny looking one.' she laughed as Max tickled her side, 'oi you!'

'Be careful!' she panicked, making sure Lexi was fully supported.

'She's fine babe. She's perfectly fine.' Max kissed Zoe's forehead and watched her coo over the baby in her arms...their baby. 'I can't believe she's here' he whispered.

She smiled and slowly ran the back of her finger over her daughters tiny hand, 'I never imagined I'd love anything as much as I love her.'

Max smiled and whispered, 'I hope she's saving some cuddles for her daddy.' he stroked Lexi's cheek softly and grinned, 'she's perfect' he said as Zoe lay her in his arms carefully. He grinned and cuddled her. 'Wow.'

'Careful of her head Max' Zoe moved Max's arm so her head was fully supported.

Max rolled his eyes, 'mummy fusses too much darling, you'll learn that.'

'Of course I fuss. Look where she's been the past few months' she pointed to the incubator, 'I don't want anything to happen to her.'

The nurse walked in and smiled, 'Zoe. Would you like to try and feed her yourself?' She nodded and gently took the baby from Max, and lay her in her arms, following what the nurse was telling her, watching as Lexi latched on first time. 'She's a natural. You're both naturals' smiled the nurse. I'll leave you to it, you should all be home in the next few days, she's doing extremely well.'

'I can't wait to show her off to the world' grinned Max as he watched her feed. He rubbed Zoe's back, whispering into her hair as they both stared lovingly at the little girl in her arms. Max moved his hand down slowly and let her wrap her tiny hand around his giant finger.

 **Hope this was okay. Hopefully I'll be able to get more chapters done, as I've finished for the summer. Please review if you can. I'd appreciate any ideas you may have. Gemma x**


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